Union jumped out to a 17-0 lead with 12:56 left in the opening half and never looked back as the Dutchmen defeated St. Joseph of Vermont, 85-32, in an opening-round game of the 21st Annual Sig Makofski-Union Invitational Tournament at the Viniar Athletic Center.
The Dutchmen, who are looking for their record-setting third consecutive tournament title, take on Wesleyan, which defeated NESCAC rival Connecticut College, 63-59, in Saturday’s 3 p.m. championship game. The 1-9 Camels will meet the 2-6 Fighting Saints in the 1 p. m. consolation matchup.
Junior guard John Cagianello scored 14 of his 18 points in the first half while sophomore guard Joe Mackey came off the bench to tally 12 of his 15 points in the opening 20 minutes. Senior forward Devon Bruce led the Dutchmen with 19 points. Freshman forward Kyle Grimm paced Union on the boards with nine with Bruce pulling down eight re bounds. Union finished with a 55-39 rebounding advantage.
The win, which was the second-straight for the Dutchmen, lifted their overall record to 4-5.
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Robert Kelly scored 18 points and pulled down 13 rebounds, both games highs, to lead Wesleyan University over Connecticut . The win was the eighth-straight for the 9-3 Cardinals.
Up by just four at the half, 34-30, the Cardinals saw Kelly score 12 of his points and pull down eight of his rebounds in the second 20 minutes. Nick Pelletier’s defensive rebound and follow-up layup gave the Cardinals their biggest lead of the game, 34-49, with 14:14 left to play.
The Camels fought back to pull within three, 53-50, on a free throw by Sokol Zejnullahu with 4:17 showing. However, that was as close as Connecticut College would come as Tim Holland, who finished with 11 points, scored on a jumper with 4:06 showing, Kelly knocked down two with 3:02 left and Holland scored a layup to give the Cardinals a 59-50 lead with 2:18 on the clock.
Blake Curry (12 points with 11 rebounds) and Jared Ashe (11 points and 10 boards) were the Cardinals’ other double digit scorers. Charles Stone (14), Zarrette Rogers (12) and Zejnullahu (11) were high scorers for the Camels.
St. Joseph vs Union College Dutchmen 1/7/05 8:00pm at Schenectady,NY At Schenectady,NY UNION COLLEGE DUTCHMEN 85, ST. JOSEPH 32 ST. JOSEPH (2-6) Paul Dixon 3-8 2-2 9; Ian Nimblett 4-14 0-0 8; Wesley Bell 2-11 1-3 5; James Madgwick 1-5 1-2 3; Brandon Sowers 1-11 1-2 3; James Hughes 1-10 0-3 2; Nick Sawyer 1-5 0-0 2. Totals 13-64 5-12 32. UNION COLLEGE DUTCHMEN (4-5) Devon Bruce 9-12 1-2 19; John Cagianello 8-14 1-3 18; Joe Mackey 6-10 0-0 15; James Rahill 3-6 0-0 7; Alex Plaisted 2-2 1-2 5; Robert Futia 2-4 0-0 4; Delon McAllister 1-4 2-2 4; Robert Marvel 1-1 2-4 4; Kyle Grimm 1-3 0-0 3; Chris Murphy 1-1 0-1 2; Jordan Schur 1-4 0-0 2; T.J. Ramey 1-4 0-0 2; Derek Gustafson 0-1 0-0 0; Darcy Bonner 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 36-70 7-14 85. St. Joseph.................... 11 21 - 32 Union College Dutchmen........ 36 49 - 85 3-point goals-St. Joseph 1-12 (Paul Dixon 1-3; Wesley Bell 0-1; Brandon Sowers 0-3; James Hughes 0-5), Union College Dutchmen 6-21 (Joe Mackey 3-7; Kyle Grimm 1-1; James Rahill 1-2; John Cagianello 1-5; Jordan Schur 0-1; T.J. Ramey 0-2; Robert Futia 0-2; Devon Bruce 0-1). Fouled out--St. Joseph-None, Union College Dutchmen-None. Rebounds-St. Joseph 39 (Brandon Sowers 8; Wesley Bell 8), Union College Dutchmen 55 (Kyle Grimm 9). Assists-St. Joseph 6 (Nick Sawyer 2), Union College Dutchmen 20 (Chris Murphy 5; John Cagianello 5). Total fouls-St. Joseph 11, Union College Dutchmen 15. A-300 ****************************** Newspaper Box Score WESMEN1 vs CONN x/7/05 6:00 at Schenectady,NY At Schenectady,NY WESMEN1 63, CONN 59 WESMEN1 (9-3) Robert Kelly 6-15 6-6 18; Blake Curry 4-10 1-2 12; Tim Holland 5-14 0-3 11; Jared Ashe 4-10 3-5 11; Nick Pelletier 2-6 2-4 6; Doug Rubenstein 1-6 0-0 3; Will Griffin 1-2 0-1 2; Mike Raymond 0-1 0-0 0; Sean Collins 0-1 0-0 0; Josh Hartz 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-66 12-21 63. CONN (1-9) Charles Stone 5-15 4-6 14; Zarrette Rogers 4-7 2-3 12; Sokol Zejnullahu 3-8 5-6 11; Christian Mosley 2-3 0-0 5; Jahkeen Washington 1-2 2-2 4; Jeff Young 2-9 0-0 4; Derek Kelly 1-8 1-4 3; Zak Harris 1-7 0-0 2; Gabe Patton 1-3 0-0 2; Danny Melzer 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 21-66 14-21 59. WESMEN1....................... 34 29 - 63 CONN.......................... 30 29 - 59 3-point goals-WESMEN1 5-15 (Blake Curry 3-5; Doug Rubenstein 1-4; Tim Holland 1-3; Will Griffin 0-1; Mike Raymond 0-1; Josh Hartz 0-1), CONN 3-17 (Zarrette Rogers 2-4; Christian Mosley 1-2; Jeff Young 0-4; Derek Kelly 0-3; Zak Harris 0-1; Danny Melzer 0-3). Fouled out--WESMEN1-None, CONN-Sokol Zejnullahu; Zarrette Rogers. Rebounds-WESMEN1 54 (Robert Kelly 13), CONN 44 (Sokol Zejnullahu 9). Assists-WESMEN1 3 (Jared Ashe 1; Will Griffin 1; Mike Raymond 1), CONN 6 (Derek Kelly 2; Jeff Young 2). Total fouls-WESMEN1 18, CONN 23. A-100 21st Annual Sig Makofski / Union College Basketball Invitational